Contra 3...

[Malon_Forever]

Holy hell this game is hard. Been playing it on the Virtual Console with a friend lately and cannot past Level 4. By the time we get there, we are low on lives/continues and the beginning of the level just seems so unfair. For people that have bested this game, any tips?

[ccovell]

Tip #1: Play it alone so you don't have another player to distract you.

Tip #2 (you knew this was coming......): Time travel back to the 80s and toughen yourself up. Arcade and console games were like this.

[o.pwuaioc]

How is it possible to not beat it with a friend? If I'm not mistaken, there are unlimited continues in two player mode, no? Also, have you tried starting on normal and then moving on to difficult?

[Malon_Forever]

How is it possible to not beat it with a friend? If I'm not mistaken, there are unlimited continues in two player mode, no? Also, have you tried starting on normal and then moving on to difficult?

Nope, not unlimited continues. If you turn up the lives to 7 (instead of 3), you get 2 continues. After that, you have to start from level one. And we aren't even playing on difficult!

[o.pwuaioc]

Nope, not unlimited continues. If you turn up the lives to 7 (instead of 3), you get 2 continues. After that, you have to start from level one. And we aren't even playing on difficult!

Hm, I must have done better than I thought!

Level 4 is tough. When I played by myself, it took me forever to beat that level. Eventually you learn to time it just right on the bike, so that the early firebombs miss you. There's a pattern you just have to learn. I don't remember it being that difficult afterward, though, at least not on normal. Is that the part you're struggling with?

[treismac]

If I'm not mistaken, there are unlimited continues in two player mode, no?

There are in the Super Famicom version.

[j_factor]

Personally I have an easier time in single-player mode. Two-player has a lot of slowdown.

[hellraiser]

I agree with the single player mode. Everytime I play with a buddy we never get anywhere.

[stalepie]

Holy hell this game is hard. Been playing it on the Virtual Console with a friend lately and cannot past Level 4. By the time we get there, we are low on lives/continues and the beginning of the level just seems so unfair. For people that have bested this game, any tips?

(deleted - sorry, realized what I was saying applied to the 1-player mode)

[Bloodreign]

It may be obvious but here are two things to keep in mind:

1) Most of your secondary weapons aren't as all-around effective as your main one, or the daggers (the small fast ones). So use those and kill yourself if you have no way of proceeding without collecting the fire or something else you don't want. Since you keep the weapon after dying, it's best not to get stuck with a weapon you don't want.

2) There's really 12 levels in the game (same with Ghouls) since each checkpoint in the game is halfway through a stage and you continue there after running out of lives. So think of it as stage 1-1, 1-2, 2-1, etc., and it becomes easier to mark your progress. Also keep in mind that the game practically doesn't have lives, since it has an infinite number of continues and each death sets you back to the last checkpoint.

Wrong thread? XD

This one's Contra.

[stalepie]

Wrong thread? XD

This one's Contra.

Oh man I shouldn't even have gotten up today...

[wiggyx]

Dang kids, back in the day we had to walk uphill, both ways to the arcade. In the snow. With bare feet. And we MADE our own quarters.


But seriously, old-school games are tough. The lack of unlimited continues/lives/etc is a big chunk of that.

[jperryss]

Did this game have easy/normal/hard, or just normal/hard? If I remember right, there are less levels on Easy and possibly on Medium compared to Hard.

Hard mode is BRUTAL and you definitely don't get unlimited continues. On Hard mode the 2nd overhead stage gets me every time, usually the boss. I haven't cleared it without cheating a bit.

[Kitsune Sniper]

I can't even clear Level 1 on Hard.

Not because it's hard. It's because THE DAMN BOSS JUST DOESN'T DIE.

[Malon_Forever]

Hm, I must have done better than I thought!

Level 4 is tough. When I played by myself, it took me forever to beat that level. Eventually you learn to time it just right on the bike, so that the early firebombs miss you. There's a pattern you just have to learn. I don't remember it being that difficult afterward, though, at least not on normal. Is that the part you're struggling with?

Yeah, level 4 messes up everything. We got the first 3 levels down to a science (except for "unlucky" deaths in level 3), but level 4 is just brutal.

[wiggyx]

I can't even clear Level 1 on Hard.

Not because it's hard. It's because THE DAMN BOSS JUST DOESN'T DIE.

Doesn't that just mean it is hard? I mean, obviously the boss isn't invincible. You just haven't yet acquired the Contra ninja skill level required to beat him on hard mode.

I had a friend in middle/high school that was insanely awesome with this game. Twenty years later I still don't know how he got so good at it.

[Malon_Forever]

Is it really easier in 1 player? I feel like common sense tells me an extra person only helps (unless it's Battletoads).

[NE146]

If I recall, there's spots in the first level where you can just stand still and shoot to accumulate extra lives (to about 30 or something). That's how I finished hard :P

[o.pwuaioc]

If I recall, there's spots in the first level where you can just stand still and shoot to accumulate extra lives (to about 30 or something). That's how I finished hard :P

Yeah, get a homing missile in the very beginning, stand on a ledge, and just hold down the fire button (or do what I did - tie a rubber band around the controller pressing the fire button down, turn off the TV, and go do something else for however long).

[E Nice]

Did this game have easy/normal/hard, or just normal/hard? If I remember right, there are less levels on Easy and possibly on Medium compared to Hard.

If I recall I correctly you can only fight the real last boss on Hard, the one where it chases you up the shaft while you're trying to escape in a helicopter. I never could beat this game on Hard without cheating. All the multiple routes of Contra Hard Corps were easier to beat than the last stage of Contra 3 on hard.